Exercising but not losing weight at all

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Replies

  • castlerobber
    castlerobber Posts: 528 Member
    typtop wrote: »
    I run 7.3km at around 45-50minutes everyday but I've not lost any weight at all. It might be because of my diet, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Here's what I eat usually, can anyone provide suggestions as to what to improve? It's demoralising to see the scales not budging.
    Morning: 1-2 apples, 1 coconut (some days), 1 kiwi. 2 bowls of cereals with milk. 1 bread.
    Afternoon: Soup + Leafy vegetables + 1-2 apples/other fruits
    Night: edameme, 2 hardboiled eggs, 1-2apples
    [...]
    I try to not eat snacks but i do indulge in oreos or other biscuits but at most it's half a roll of packet of oreos

    You're eating a monotonous diet of a half-dozen apples, a few other fruits, a bunch of cereal (with lowfat or skimmed milk, presumably)...and Oreos. With a couple of eggs and a little soy thrown in. And you're running a monotonous workout of the same distance at the same middling pace, every day, with no rest days.

    That's an awful lot of sugary carbohydrates, and not nearly enough protein. Coconut is good, but maybe not a whole one every day. Swap out most of the apples and cereal for meat, fish, fowl, cheese, nuts, and green veg. Cut back the Oreos to two or three, not a dozen or more.

    As a rule of thumb, slow running burns about 100 calories/mile for a 150-lb. person. (adjust according to your weight.) Whatever you weigh, that amount of running isn't going to offset all the cereal and biscuits. I'm guessing you were already somewhat fit, to run 4 1/2 miles a day at 10:00 to 11:00 pace starting only a month ago.

    Running the same distance, at the same pace, with no rest days, is a recipe for boredom, burnout, and possible overuse injury. Look for a more structured training plan if you enjoy running and want to improve: switch a couple of days for shorter, faster runs, and one longer run (maybe 10K), and take a rest day every week.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    typtop wrote: »
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    Not losing weight = not in a deficit.

    Track your calories accurately, if you are exercising a lot you can eat back some off the calories "earned" and do this consistently.

    @trigden1991 hi, about this, im unsure too, all the while i thought if i cut 400kcal, i could eat all back so long as i stay within the amount of calories i need a day (e.g. 1400kcal) and does MFP cut the amount of calories you burnt by half? it doesnt seem to register the correct amount

    I'm a little unsure what exactly you're asking however I'll respond best I can.

    What you need to do is set your MFP up with your correct weight and select your weight loss goal. On any day you exercise you can add this to your log and "+ XXX calories" will appear. Eat back a certain percentage of these exercise calories, I recommend 50% but I know some people eat 100% of them. Hope that helps.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    OP means Original Poster or original post...so in this thread that's you
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    bcalvanese wrote: »
    Run more... eat less.

    For a beginner runner who's already running almost 5 miles a day, 7 days a week? Sounds like great advice - if she wants overuse injuries, that is.
  • folgers86
    folgers86 Posts: 84 Member
    There's also the fact that the body adapts pretty quickly to repetitive exercise so you burn fewer calories as time goes on for the same rate/distance. So you're probably no longer burning the same amount of calories that you were when you started. Switch up the steady running with intervals and get some resistance training in as well. Don't do the same thing every day. Nothing wrong with running but understand the body's goal is to become more efficient and burn FEWER calories. Switch it up and decrease the adaptiveness.

    Take Sundays to meal prep (worth it) and for goodness sake get some protein in your diet. Log everything. I ate an entire bag of fun size Twix once and logged it even though it obviously blew me past my calorie goals LOL. Things happen but you need to hold yourself accountable.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited October 2016
    typtop wrote: »
    It's been a whole month since I started running and I've ran everyday single day without fail. I run 7.3km at around 45-50minutes everyday but I've not lost any weight at all. It might be because of my diet, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Here's what I eat usually, can anyone provide suggestions as to what to improve? It's demoralising to see the scales not budging.
    Morning: 1-2 apples, 1 coconut (some days), 1 kiwi. 2 bowls of cereals with milk. 1 bread.
    Afternoon: Soup + Leafy vegetables + 1-2 apples/other fruits
    Night: edameme, 2 hardboiled eggs, 1-2apples

    As you can see I have a huge appetite in the morning, is that wrong? I try to not eat snacks but i do indulge in oreos or other biscuits but at most it's half a roll of packet of oreos

    You probably have a huge appetite in the AM because most of what you eat is low in protein. Have the eggs for breakfast and meat with lunch and dinner; many people find protein satiating. Add some protein like cheese when you have apples. Less apple, more protein.

    How many Oreos are you talking about? Packages come in all different sizes. I can eat a ton of Oreos and never feel full because of the low protein (and fiber.)

    Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    If you enjoy running - then keep it up. Having active hobbies is good for your health/fitness.

    As others have said, track your calories consumed in order to figure out why you're not losing weight.

    Step 1: enter your information into MFP, choosing lightly active and set a goal to lose 1 pound a week. This should give you a reasonable calorie goal for a starting point.

    Step 2: log your food consumed.

    Step 3: if you are having a hard time feeling full by eating lesser amounts of what you're currently eating then try eating differently. Your daily routine is very fruit/carb heavy. Personally I have found that having some protein/carb/fat in each meal helps me feel full longer. Perhaps try having a smaller portion of cereal with 2% milk and scrambled egg whites w/ spinach/peppers/ham added in. Also, snacks are ok - just account for them and log.

    Step 4: give it time to work. Aim for 3-4 weeks to see results.
  • typtop
    typtop Posts: 14 Member
    castlerobber wrote: »
    typtop wrote: »
    I run 7.3km at around 45-50minutes everyday but I've not lost any weight at all. It might be because of my diet, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Here's what I eat usually, can anyone provide suggestions as to what to improve? It's demoralising to see the scales not budging.
    Morning: 1-2 apples, 1 coconut (some days), 1 kiwi. 2 bowls of cereals with milk. 1 bread.
    Afternoon: Soup + Leafy vegetables + 1-2 apples/other fruits
    Night: edameme, 2 hardboiled eggs, 1-2apples
    [...]
    I try to not eat snacks but i do indulge in oreos or other biscuits but at most it's half a roll of packet of oreos

    You're eating a monotonous diet of a half-dozen apples, a few other fruits, a bunch of cereal (with lowfat or skimmed milk, presumably)...and Oreos. With a couple of eggs and a little soy thrown in. And you're running a monotonous workout of the same distance at the same middling pace, every day, with no rest days.

    That's an awful lot of sugary carbohydrates, and not nearly enough protein. Coconut is good, but maybe not a whole one every day. Swap out most of the apples and cereal for meat, fish, fowl, cheese, nuts, and green veg. Cut back the Oreos to two or three, not a dozen or more.

    As a rule of thumb, slow running burns about 100 calories/mile for a 150-lb. person. (adjust according to your weight.) Whatever you weigh, that amount of running isn't going to offset all the cereal and biscuits. I'm guessing you were already somewhat fit, to run 4 1/2 miles a day at 10:00 to 11:00 pace starting only a month ago.

    Running the same distance, at the same pace, with no rest days, is a recipe for boredom, burnout, and possible overuse injury. Look for a more structured training plan if you enjoy running and want to improve: switch a couple of days for shorter, faster runs, and one longer run (maybe 10K), and take a rest day every week.

    Hi, you're right, I used to run 10km one day each week before and could keep up for about half a month but now I'd shorten the distance (so I feel less stressful) and I enjoy my runs now. I've been on an active lifestyle for 2-3years now since embarking on a weight loss journey, so I'm not really newbie. Many gave advice to take a break so I should but I feel awfully stressed when I dont exercise for a day so I guess I'll switch routes on alternate days and maybe run shorter distances (hitting 10k soon!) Thanks a lot for your advice!
  • typtop
    typtop Posts: 14 Member
    @trigden1991 yes that helps! thankyou:)

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